EUROPEAN UNION'S ENERGY EFFICIENCY POLICY – NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND CHALLENGES FOR MEMBER STATES

Abstract: The European Union (EU)’s energy efficiency policy has seen significant development over the last 15 years. The adoption of Directive (EU) 2023/1791 in September 2023 brings major changes compared to previous directives, namely Directives (EU) 2012/27 and 2108/2022. The new legislation introduces more ambitious targets and stricter requirements for Member States in terms of energy transition. This paper will discuss the recent changes in legislation, including a review of the integrated national plans for energy and climate (NECPs) of 2023 submitted by member states last year, as well as the European Commission (EC)’s evaluation of all these plans (COM (2023) 796 final). It will provide a renewed perspective on challenges encountered by the EU member states when implementing these measures and the overall impact related to performing the energetic sustainability targets at the European level. Our findings will show that the last Directive (EU) 2023/1791 witnesses for the first time the “energy efficiency first” principle in the EU. Besides, the EU’s 2020 reference energy efficiency scenario for the energy consumption reduction of at least 11/7% up to 2030 sees itself finally renewed. However, despite this, only 21 EU member states succeeded in being on time with their newly updated integrated national plans for energy and climate – i.e., it is only them that have yet to comply with this given 2030 target. Keywords: energy efficiency, integrated national energy and climate plans (NECPs), energy policy, EU member states, European Union (EU) Jel Classification: Q40, Q43, Q48